1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to entertainment and educational attractions and, in particular, to a fish and marine mammal observatory that includes a carousel that moves within a sealed aquatic environment to provide an entertainment and educational aquatic attraction.
2. Description of the Related Art
From time immemorial, the general public has been fascinated with undersea life. Adults and children alike find undersea creatures and their lives to be strange and fascinating. To truly explore the undersea world, however, specialized equipment is required. In addition, undersea exploration is a very dangerous undertaking.
The entertainment industry has addressed this need in several different ways. Over the past several years, numerous aquatic theme parks have been developed that include live aquatic attractions and shows. One such park is Sea World, which includes exhibitions showing fish and marine mammals in simulated live environments. These exhibitions are essentially large-scale aquariums that are viewed in the open air or in specialized buildings. In the latter case, a glass-enclosed tunnel or passageway is made within the building itself so that the viewer can browse the animals in a more "natural" habitat. Although these attractions are quite popular, aquariums often do not give the viewer the impression that they have actually entered the undersea world.
There are numerous prior art patents describing aquatic attractions, rides and observatories. A representative one is U.S. Pat. No. 4,186,532 to Kahn, which describes and illustrates an off-shore underwater observatory comprising a lower, submerged observation gallery fitted with at least one observation window and having a ceiling with an opening through which the observation gallery is accessible. A body of water is placed on top of the gallery such that the combined weight of the structure and the water exceeds the buoyancy. Thus, in the Kahn patent, people can enter the building and view the surrounding marine life. While the observatory described in Kahn has certain advantages, the attraction does not create the impression that the viewer is actually entering the marine world. Moreover, the variety of sea life available to the viewer is limited by the need for the proximity of the observatory to the shore. Further, the viewer must walk around the observatory to view the different observation positions. Prior art amusement rides also include diving bells and submarines. In these attractions, riders enter an enclosed bell or submarine, which is then submerged in an aquarium or lake. Once submerged, participants can observe the activities in the aquarium surrounding them. Representative patent art includes U.S. Pat. No. 3,114,333 to Fowler et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,775,226 to Futumi et al., and many others. An illustrative submarine ride that is still popular today is located at Disneyland. In other diving bell rides, the bell is submerged into the ocean itself. These rides have the advantage of providing an authentic underwater experience. However, to maintain structural integrity, the window openings in most submergible devices are quite small. Moreover, many individuals have a fear of getting inside a small enclosed diving bell or vehicle.
There remains a need in the art to provide a fish and marine mammal aquatic attraction that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art. The present invention solves this problem.